Do you sometimes feel like you’re dragging around a ball and chain, when you set out to accomplish something?

It can be crazy sometimes – we really want to do a certain project, and yet when we try to get started, we come up with all kinds of things to put in the way.

Make phone calls for my business? Yes, of course I’ll get that done today. But wait – why am I cleaning out the closet and washing the bases of the house plants instead? Or – why am I wasting my time on this computer game?

The ball and chain may be an internal Technicolor movie that you’re dragging around, a movie about what it’s going to be like to make those phone calls, that makes them scary or intimidating.

When you think of phone calls, what’s the picture that comes up? Does it have elements of rejection and embarrassment? If you’re not making those calls, it’s a pretty safe bet that there’s a strong negative element in there.

What can you do about that? Try this: imagine yourself in the moment after you have completed ten calls. In this scenario that you’re creating, imagine that you’ve gotten a really positive response from five of them. The others were cordial, and said no.

How do you feel? I’m guessing you feel GREAT – strong, powerful, confident in having lived up to your commitment to yourself. What is your physiology? Imagine yourself sitting tall and straight. Hear what you are saying to yourself. Hear what others are saying about you. Create a strong picture, and notice everything about this picture: the quality of the air, the sounds in the room, what you are seeing around you. Drink it in. If it’s black and white, make it color; if it’s a still picture, give it motion. Make it real. FEEL it.

Can you make those phone calls now?